I recently met up with a friend whose father died last month. My friend is raising five children on her own; she cared for her dad until his death, and is also active in many local youth and community groups. She's a remarkable woman - but her dad's death, from heart disease, is sadly not.

A Jubilee line tube train at Southwark station on the London Underground. Photograph: David Sillitoe

Islington has one third more early deaths from heart disease and stroke than the average for England. Even within Islington, there's a dramatic difference; male life expectancy in the most deprived areas is 71 years, 3.5 years less than that of the most affluent neighbourhoods in the same borough, a borough that's about 3.5 miles long.

People worry about "postcode lotteries" in health services, but what about the postcode lottery in health itself? Nick Clegg has spoken of the differences in his city of Sheffield, where a child born in the poorest neighbourhood will live 14 fewer years than a child born just a few miles away. Here in London, if you get on the Jubilee line at Westminster and head east, every time the train stops, life expectancy drops by a year.

Even Time Out has picked up on it. London's glossy listings magazine this week has a front-page story on health inequality in the capital, pointing up the fact that within Westminster the richest female residents are likely to live to 96 while the poorest can expect to live to 77.

Health inequality isn't a sexy topic; we have to work to keep it on the agenda. It shames the government, and it's hard to fix. Perhaps that's why health had such a low profile in the budget. Beyond the tax on fags and booze, health barely featured. Never mind the health warnings on tobacco: poverty is bad for your health.

Last year's budget changes are about to hit income tax. Abolishing the 10p starting rate of tax will in effect double income tax for low earners. Combining that with increasing the clawback on tax credits means that millions of poorer families will get a double hit. For some, their marginal tax rate will be around 70%. Enough to make anyone feel sick.

Radical Islington lives

The spring air is chilly and May day may seem an age away, but it's just six weeks to the London elections. Thanks to the efforts of my Liberal Democrat council colleagues, virtually every estate now has entrance security, meaning deliveries have to be done in the early morning "tradesman's" slot. Even though the post now often arrives mid-afternoon ... So my morning routine now includes an hour or so of trotting round with leaflets before work. Who needs the gym? Yesterday I went along the canal, sharing the towpath with cyclists and joggers on their way to work, passing sleepy ducks who seemed untroubled by this very civilised rush hour.

Alongside the towpath are the hoardings surrounding the Packington estate. A notorious panel-built design - as used for Ronan Point - it's finally being pulled down and rebuilt. The residents have chosen a traditional street pattern; ironic, as that's what the Packington planners swept away when it was built. It marks the high tide of post-war estates in Islington; after Packington, residents and councillors revolted and refused to demolish any more streets.

The optimistic illustrations of the new housing association estate show sunlit streets, with happy residents and even Eames-style chairs on the balconies; on one, an enterprising campaigner has stuck a Stop the War sticker so it appears like a banner. Radical Islington lives!

Postal voting

MPs vote today on post office closures. Last time there was a vote - January 2007 - Labour MPs dutifully voted the pro-closure party line "enabling Post Office Ltd to determine the future shape of the network within clear government rules". Since then we've seen even ministers claiming they didn't think that meant their post office in their constituency. No wonder public confidence in politicians is at an all-time low. The vote couldn't be more topical for Islington; the consultation on local closures ends in a couple of weeks' time. So we'll be watching how our MPs vote this time with great interest.

 Bridget Fox is the Lib Dem candidate for Islington South and Finsbury